<p>I & my husband earn approximately 100,000 per year, although we only recently married and our previous marriages ruined our credit and left us bankrupt. We are working very hard to straighten our credit mess up, my daughter starts college in one month, our out of pocket expense is approx 6000 after the first year loans that she qualified for. We do not have the funds to pay this, i obviously was turned down for a parent loan, i dont want to deny her this oppurtunity and i have no idea where to turn or what to do to pay for it. i dont want her to start life after college with mountains of debt. she only works partime as a lifeguard. she doesnt qualify for loans either and i cant cosign. her father refuses to help in anyway, she was denied for work study as well, the college said that the students that get that are the ones that qualify for grants in most cases, they havent been real helpful either. I read a post that mentioned Stafford loans? The college did not mention this, and Im not sure how to go about applying for it? We did not apply for scholarships in time for the first year, we are hoping that if she excels, that may be an option for her sophomore year. If anyone has any tips advice or ideas for how to manage this first year I would appreciate any advice I get. Thank you so much!!</p>
<p>She is entitled to take out Federal Direct Loans up to $5500 for her freshman year. Because you were turned down for a Parent Plus loan she is entitled to I think $4000 more in federal direct loans. These are loans in her name and she would need to sign the promissory note. She should call or e-mail the college financial aid office and ask how to proceed (and to make sure those aren’t already included in whatever aid she is to receive.) The college will certify the amount and then the funds will be distributed into her student account. The process goes very fast and for students there is no credit check process, every student is entitled to take out federal direct loans. She can probably still request the federal direct loans for this freshman year. If I have the amounts wrong, someone will come along and correct me no doubt.</p>
<p>my daughter starts college in one month, our out of pocket expense is approx 6000 after the first year loans that she qualified for</p>
<p>It sounds like there already are Stafford Direct loans in her FA pkg.</p>
<p>If her aid pkg doesn’t already include Direct Loans, then she can get $5500 in Direct loans (sometimes also called Stafford loans, but they’re the SAME thing).</p>
<p>Look at her pkg. Does it say Stafford or Direct Loans? if not, then she can borrow $5500.</p>
<p>If there already are such loans in her FA pkg, since you were turned down for Plus, she can borrrow $4k more…If you want, you can agree to pay those for her.</p>
<p>Contact the school and ask for the $4k more based on Plus rejection. The school may already be doing this for you.</p>
<p>As for the remaining $2k, you can arrange monthly payments to the school.</p>
<p>How much does she already have in loans? What is the total cost of the school and other than the 6K you are required to pay, how is that covered? You make it sound like she doesn’t have any grants.</p>
<p>Thank you so much, she did qualify for the 5500, but there is 5000 left, thats not counting her books or parking pass, but if she could get the extra 4000, i could probably figure out a way to come up with the rest, can you tell me where to apply for a stafford loan. we went to the university this past monday and we had a meeting with financial aid, they never mentioned this at all, in fact, when i told them i had been turned down for the parent loan, they told me that there were no other options, that i probably wouldnt qualify for a personal loan, and they hoped i knew someone that would loan me the money, they never once mentioned the option of a stafford loan, i am in school myself, i work two jobs and i dont qualify for financial assitance of any kind either, my hope is that when i graduate in 3 semesters that i can pay all of her student loans, and hopefully she will get some scholarships after this first year is behind us… thank you all so much!!</p>
<p>she does not qualify for any grants, or work study, the only thing that she is approved for is 5500 in student loans for the year, and 900 in keys money( we live in ky) the total cost left for me is 4900 per year, plus books and parking, it does include housing meals and tuition</p>
<p>4900 per semester not per year</p>
<p>can you tell me where to apply for a stafford loan</p>
<p>I don’t think you understand. Your D already has 5500 in Stafford loans in her FA pkg.</p>
<p>All she can get now is an additional $4k (for the YEAR). You need to call the school and speak to them. There isn’t really anything to fill out. You already submitted FAFSA and were turned down by Plus. The school just needs to increase her existing Stafford loans by another $4k (per year…$2k per semester.)</p>
<p>Yikes…just read…you need $5k per SEMESTER? It sounds like this school isn’t really affordable. It sounds like you’re borrowing all costs…including room and board.</p>
<p>Have your daughter contact the financial aid office regarding an additional unsubsidized stafford loan to cover the 4k gap. Is your daughter currently working? Hopefully she can find a summer job, whether it is minimum wage, baby sitting, dog walking, tutoring, waitressing, to help make some money to offset some of these costs.</p>
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<p>If you are a sophomore in college, as an independent student, you are able to borrow up to $10,500 in stafford loans.</p>
<p>I think what’s confusing the OP is that schools may not use the word “Stafford” anymore. They may just use the word “Direct” loan now.</p>
<p>Yes, the OP can borrow as well for HER college costs. It sounds like she’s a junior in college. So, she can borrow about $11,500 per year - So she could use those loans to pay for her college costs…and then use her own money to pay for her D’s costs.</p>
<p>I totally agree</p>
<p>i think i partially understand, this is her freshman year, she recieved 5500 in loans for the school year, my out of pocket expense is 4900 per semester, i read that if i was denied the parent loan, (which I was denied today) that she would qualify for an additional 4000 in loans, i did not realize this was per year, not semester, which will leave me owing 3000, but thats still better than almost 5000/ i am an LPN, i am going back to school for my RN/bachelors, i dont even qualify for loans, they told me that my hours accrued during my LPN twelve years ago disqualified me from loans due to my accumulated hours in LPN school, without recieving a degree, they did however tell me that once i was accepted into the program that they would reconsider. I am lucky, because i recieve help through my employer to pay my tuition and my book fees, so i thought if i could get loans i would use these to pay for my daughters tuition, and she would have no debt, i think im aggravated, because the same people that qualify for the grants also are the ones that get the work study, the scholarships (income based) and it seems that there is no help for the working middle class family that is trying to put a child through college, my daughter is the first in my immediate family to pursue a nursing degree, i am the first with any education outside of highschool at all, i want so much to change this and to put my daughter through college, somehow, someway, i just dont know how to get through this first year. she has been a good student throughout highschool and i hope and i pray that she will be a good enough student next year to qualify for scholarships, and she would have qualified for an honors scholarship that would have paid for what the loans didnt her first year, had we had known what we were doing and applied sooner, so i guess im just asking for any advice that can help me survive the financial difficulties of year one, the rest we will figure out as we go. thank you guys so much for all your help!!!</p>
<p>forgot to mention that i am accepted into the program, so i am in the process of appealing so that i can recieve loans, if in fact i do recieve loans i will use the funds to pay for my daughter, however, i do not want to wait, recieve a denial letter and start all over, i want to have a plan, bc there is no guarantee that i will be approved and when i find out will be about two to three days before my daughters tuition is due, or at least 50% of it, i am allowed to spread the remainder into two monthly payments, so obviously i need a back up plan</p>
<p>If she would have qualified for an honors scholarship, why not have her take a year off and reapply next year? She could work and save some money. </p>
<p>If she wants to go into nursing, why not have her what you did? Go for LPN first and then get employer help for RN? </p>
<p>Also, many colleges allow monthly payments. (I don’t know if that requires a credit check.) $3000 for the year is $300/month. Any chance someone could earn that?</p>
<p>Since it sounds like your D missed out on some honors scholarships by applying late, maybe she should take a gap year and reapply.</p>
<p>The truth is that continuing students rarely get any scholarships (or not much), so hoping for those are unlikely going to happen.</p>
<p>If your D took a gap year and applied early, then she could get those scholarships.</p>
<p>i meant to say bachelors, she is not in anyway interested in a nursing degree, the school(Northern Kentucky University) if that helps, told me that 50% was due by the first week of classes, and that the remainder had to be paid by mid september in, at the most, two monthly installments, but i could ask to speak to someone different that maybe could be more helpful. it is possible that she could wait a year. but she would be devastated, not that thats not the worse that could ever happen to her, but im excited for her, she has signed up for several programs, has her class schedule, and has been accepted into the freshman leadership group( she moves in early and assists other freshman with their transition), i guess im sounding ridiculous, but i just want this for her, im just a proud mom, i want her to be all that she can, and break family tradition, of factory jobs, marriage and babies. i want to make this happen for her, and im convinced that if we can get through the first year, we will be able to make this happen</p>
<p>You should be able to set up a monthly payment plan thru Sallie Mae.</p>
<p>Really???!!! That would be so much help!!!</p>
<p>If delaying one year meant that she’d qualify for merit scholarships for 4 years, then it’s really silly to start now since it will avoid a bunch of loans.</p>
<p>Your D could spend this year working and saving…and then next year start with few/no loans.</p>